Opinion: It’s time for de-growth

Merely celebrating Environment Day on June 5 is not enough; what is truly needed is a commitment to systemic change while adopting sustainable practices

By Dr Subhashree Banerjee, Yash Tayal

Every year on June 5, the world celebrates World Environment Day. Once a meaningful initiative, it has now lost its practical significance and has been reduced to tokenistic observations, as evident from the persistent and escalating environmental problems. This is also highlighted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Sixth Assessment Report, Synthesis Report, 2023, which states that the global surface temperature had already increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era (1850-1900) in 2011-20, largely driven by the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

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Dark Points
The IPCC has also warned that the window to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is rapidly closing. The year 2023 marked a dark point in the global climate crisis by becoming the hottest year ever recorded. It also witnessed an unbroken streak of seven consecutive months of record-high global temperatures.
Oceans, which absorb the majority of excess heat from the atmosphere, reached unprecedented temperature levels, signalling a disturbing trend with profound implications for marine ecosystems. Accelerating climate change has unleashed a series of extreme weather events worldwide.

The Amazon rainforest, dubbed the ‘lungs of the Earth’, experienced a historic drought towards the end of 2023. By August 2024, the Mediterranean Sea reached a record-high temperature of 31.96 degrees C, while Saudi Arabia experienced an extraordinary snowfall caused by heavy rain and hail in November 2024.

This alarming situation is further exacerbated by the world political scenario, with the persistence of growth-obsessed leadership in major economies. Donald Trump’s previous term as the US President demonstrated a decisive rollback of environmental protections, with 98 regulations reversed and enforcement actions by the Environmental Protection Agency reduced by 50 per cent.

These actions, coupled with a dramatic increase in oil and gas leasing on public lands, underscore a growth-at-all-costs philosophy. This approach prioritises short-term economic gains over long-term ecological sustainability. Additionally, it also undermines global efforts to combat climate change, as evidenced by Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement in 2017.

Beyond Stabilisation

Given this context, neo-classical economic thought, which prioritises weak sustainability and relies on technological innovation to offset environmental degradation, appears increasingly inadequate. While ecological economists like Herman Daly proposed the concept of a steady-state economy as an alternative to growth models, even this approach seems insufficient given the current pace of environmental degradation.

For developed economies, the imperative goes beyond stabilisation; it demands degrowth. Degrowth does not imply reducing GDP but rather involves actively reducing consumption, restoring degraded ecosystems, and rethinking prosperity to ensure that Earth’s carrying capacity remains intact for future generations.

Degrowth does not imply reducing GDP but rethinking prosperity to ensure that Earth’s carrying capacity remains intact for future generations

The concept was first introduced in 1972 by Andre Gorz. Degrowth advocates for strong sustainability over weak sustainability and questions the neo-classical obsession with growth by prioritising environmental preservation in economic decision-making.

While often dismissed as overly radical and impractical, degrowth has become an absolute necessity given today’s environmental context. Degrowth is a planned reduction of energy and resources throughput (the amount of material or resources passing through a system) to bring the economy back into balance within the ecological limits while simultaneously addressing the problem of inequality and enhancing human well-being.

Degrowth and India

Recent developments at COP29 have highlighted the inadequacy of global responses to the climate crisis. India criticised developed nations, which are historic emitters, for pledging a mere USD 300 billion for climate financing compared to the required USD 1.3 trillion. This was deemed as grossly insufficient to address the scale of the crisis while being extremely unfair to the developing nations.

India’s moral authority in this critique stems from its ambitious climate actions despite significant development challenges. They have not only stayed true to their promise of achieving carbon neutrality by 2070 but have consistently outperformed their climate commitments. The country has already achieved its target of 40% installed electric capacity from non-fossil fuel sources, nearly nine years ahead of schedule. Through the International Solar Alliance (ISA), India has created a coalition of 120 countries, demonstrating its capability to mobilise global cooperation for renewable energy adoption.

India’s mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) represents an attempt to incorporate degrowth principles at the consumer level. The initiative promotes behavioural shifts in everyday life, such as encouraging citizens to adopt practices like saving energy and water, reducing waste and embracing mindful consumption in their daily choices. These individual actions are deeply rooted in India’s traditional wisdom of sustainable living. However, while consumer-level changes are crucial, they remain insufficient on their own and without corresponding transformations at the macroeconomic level, their impact remains limited.

The fundamental economic structures that drive excessive resource consumption and environmental degradation must also be addressed through policy interventions, industrial regulations and systemic changes in production patterns. This is where India faces a critical challenge. The temptation to dismiss degrowth as something only wealthy nations must consider is evident, particularly given India’s pressing need for poverty alleviation. Yet, this creates a false dichotomy between growth and sustainability.

Instead of falling into the trap of pursuing growth at any cost — a path that has proven catastrophic for developed nations — India has the opportunity to pioneer a new development strategy, one whose roots are entrenched in strong sustainability. This alternative approach would prioritise strategic, sustainable growth in sectors crucial for human development while consciously limiting expansion in resource-intensive industries that promote unnecessary consumerism, complementing the consumer-level changes promoted by initiatives like LiFE with structural economic reforms.

The relentless pursuit of growth has already driven the planet to the brink of destruction, fuelling a climate crisis of unprecedented scale. What was once seen as an indicator of development now stands as a primary catalyst of ecological collapse. Degrowth is no longer a utopian idea; it is a necessity, particularly for developed economies that have long overshot their ecological limits.

For India, while the responsibility may not be equal, the stakes certainly are. It remains imperative for the country to safeguard the planet’s already dwindling carrying capacity. A conscious re-evaluation of growth priorities in the spirit of strong sustainability can allow India to chart a path that does not compromise development but redefines it. The ethos of LiFE already reflects this possibility. By integrating selective elements of degrowth theory, India can pioneer a model of progress that balances economic development with planetary boundaries.

In this context, merely celebrating Environment Day will not be enough. What is needed is a sustainable commitment to systemic change while adopting sustainable practices and embracing degrowth as a guiding principle. Only then can we hope to secure a resilient and equitable future for our home — Earth.

(Dr Subhashree Banerjee is Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, CHIRST (Deemed to be University) Bangalore. Yash Tayal is an Independent Researcher)